Golden Sun : The Other World
by gyad
Summary: Continued from where the end of TLA left off. The party finds that nothing will ever be the same upon the release of Alchemy. Shippings include: Lighthouse, Steam, Mercury? [AlexXMia], Possibly Vale.
1. Chapter 1 New Faces

**Golden Sun III : The Other World**

_Nothing is ever as they appear to be…_

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Gyad : I bring to you the 7th rewrite of this fic. Pairings this time will be different. Characters will now be much more different. All of this applies to you only if you read my previous rewrites and hopefully you haven't. And here's the disclaimer. **Golden Sun does not belong to me, never did and never will. If it did, this fanfiction just might be the story of Golden Sun III.**

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Chapter One : New Faces**

What happened, and what will happen, was inevitable. Alchemy had been released after countless years of imprisonment. Alchemy had brought forth immeasurable riches and power to humanity in the past, but at the price of millions of lives. History repeats itself, and has begun its march on the inhabitants of Vale. Vale, the village that was sworn to protect Mt. Aleph and the power it held.

The survivors said moments before the destruction, a blue haired man came to Vale. His motives were unclear, however he had good intentions. He tried his best to lead the people of Vale away from their homes but many ignored him. Those that listened were the unharmed survivors.

The party decided that it was best for the villagers if they had shelter. The closest town to Vale was Vault. The distance between Vale and Vault was a reasonable distance. This distance was increased, due to a mountain range that divided the territory of Vale and Vault. It was impossible to get to Vault without taking the long path around the mountain.

It was around noon when they began their movement.

After a long day of walking, the town of Vault was now in sight now that they had pasted the mountain. Gleefully, they began increasing their pace towards Vault. What happened next surprised them all. A man leaped from atop the mountain and landed in front of everyone.

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His height and appearance was of a male about Isaac's age. His face made the deepest impression of all. To the untrained eye, it looks like a normal face. However, looking past that, something in his eyes showed an enormous amount of hatred and anger. The man had a small grin, in which he used to hide his true feelings. 

The man held a long sword in his right arm with a tight grip. The sword looked old and had thousands of dents all over it. It was the results of countless battles that took place in his past. The handle of the sword had cracks on it. A piece of cloth was stitched on it to keep the cracks from damaging the skin of the wielder.

The man examined each of his opponents carefully from a distance. He let a light chuckle as he finished examining those that he would do battle with soon. "So the eight of you are the infamous 'Golden Warriors'," said the man with a low tone. The warriors flinched at his slightly insulting comment. Each of them wanted to question his motives, but hesitated each time. "Anyways…" began the man again, but was interrupted by Garet's loud response. "Who are you?" asked Garet.

The man coughed and cleared his throat and began his speech again. "Anyways, my name is Thorn. I am from a foreign land, and I come here for a few reasons. I won't go in depth for my motives, but I will let you know why I am _here_ exactly. I'm sure you're all assuming that I want a fight, and I assure that I don't." Thorn coughed again and released the grip on his sword. He pointed it at the eight warriors, and retracted it to place it in the sheath on his belt. Thorn continued "I have one simple request, one that you most likely will not agree on. I wish to for three of your companions to assist me for a short time."

Isaac made a fist with his hands as he heard what Thorn had just said. He had many things to say to him, but dared not. He stared coldly into Thorn's eyes and allowed him to speak.

"They will not be harmed in anyway, nor will they die. They will be treated with care. However, they **MUST **be cooperative," continued Thorn.

Meanwhile, in the background, the survivors of Vale were fleeting the scene, afraid of the upcoming battle between the nine warriors.

"Just _why _should we help you?" questioned Felix holding tightly on his sword. "Because," Thorn chuckled "If you don't, I'll take them by force, and go against everything I just told you,"

Silence surrounded the area like a plague. Neither member of Thorn's opponents made a movement, nor spoke a word. Thorn, on the other hand was making foolish movements and sounds, such as yawning, coughing and whistling. "So, made a decision yet?" asked Thorn making a sinister face.

* * *

Isaac scoffed at his opponent before giving his answer. He was clearly amused after thinking over the situation multiple times. "No, never, not a chance, not unless I die…" announced Isaac with total confidence. "Then I'll take them by force," said Thorn as he closed his eyes. The companions flinched at his confidence. 

_Who is he? What does he want with us? Where will he take us? When is this fight going to start? Why is he doing this? Is he really that strong? We can take him, after all, it's eight against one, and he's unarmed and blind for the time being._

Questions and words of doubt surrounded a few of the weaker members among the group.

"If you're going to stop me, I suggest you attack now, before I open my eyes again and draw my sword. I'm clearing giving you a huge handicap, so take good use of it." said Thorn. Thorn's eight opponents tightened their grip on their weapon to prepare for their upcoming battle. "But, that doesn't mean I won't fight back, so be cautious anyways. And, **NEVER **underestimate your opponent's power before entering combat. I simply will **NOT **leave here empty handed, or my name isn't Thorn…"

"Then we'll strip you of your name!" cried Garet, the Mars adept as he quickly ran towards his opponent. As Garet quickly ran across the dirt road, he prepared a fireball in his hands using the psynergy that Mars has given him. As Garet and Thorn's distance closed in, the tension among the seven other warriors grew. Thorn however, was perfectly calm in his blind state.

Garet's sword was directed at Thorn from the ground, which was an upward slash. He swung his sword at the ground about a couple of yards away from his opponent, which caused a loud clanking noise. His opponent heard this, and stepped away to the side. Garet's attack missed. His companions behind him groaned.

Thorn finally opened his eyes after successfully dodging Garet's attack. "Nice try…" muttered Thorn as he stared lowly at his opponent.

Garet's companions now charged into the battlefield to lend Garet some assistance. "It's an eight versus one battle, how do…" said Isaac, but was interrupted by Thorn. "…how do **YOU **plan to win?" asked Thorn slyly. "Like I said, don't underestimate your opponent. After all, I did manage to dodge your red headed companion's foolish attempt. And I haven't even drawn my sword yet…"

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"Come, surround me, so I wo-_can't_ dodge your attacks." said Thorn in a deep voice. 

His opponents refused to take his advice anymore, instead charged at him from the front, one by one. Isaac and Felix, the two Venus adepts in the group, took charge. They were backed up by Garet, the Mars adept, and Piers, the Mercury adept.

Behind the four who charged at Thorn, were the lesser known, but equally as valuable members. Mia, the Mercury adept healer; stayed behind to heal anyone that was injured in battle. Jenna, the Mars adept; she wasn't that good of a fighter, so she mainly attacks from behind using Psynergy. Sheba and Ivan, the Jupiter adepts; they are the fastest among the group, but they have poor fighting skills. They rely on their Psynergy to guide the group across the land, as well as strike from far behind.

Isaac and Felix both attacked in similar ways as though they were in unison. His opponent however, swiftly dodged all their attacks.

_He can see where and when we attack, and quickly dodge them before we even get close to him with our swords. We must fight back with Psynergy…_

Felix raised his sword into the air, and formed a rock-covered sword from it. The sword doubled in length and width. He charged at his opponent with his newly forged sword with a bit of a confidence boost. He leaped into the air and performed a downward slash at Thorn. This time, Thorn didn't try to dodge the attack. Instead, he formed a fist with his hand and landed a blow to Felix's torso as he came into distance. The rocked-covered sword barely touched Thorn's shoulders, but missed as Felix's grip was released when he was struck. From there, Thorn raised his foot and kicked Felix's body into the air. He leaped into the air to attack Felix's immobile body once again, but as drew close, Felix disappeared.

Thorn was now slightly pissed at what just happened. Someone had cast Teleport on Felix's body. "Stop running, and start fighting! I've fought ten times as good as you guys when I was ten!" announced Thorn, who was now back on the ground.

Felix's body was now in the care of Mia. She was healing his small wounds. The bruises on his body was tiny and barely looked like he was hit hard, however Mia felt that Felix was in pain.

"You'll pay for hurting my friends!" announced Isaac as he charged at Thorn, followed by Garet and Piers. Thorn magically disappeared from where he stood and reappeared behind Garet and Piers. Thorn tapped their shoulders to surprise them and sent them flying into the distance.

"_He's fast; could he be a Jupiter Adept?_" Thought Isaac

Isaac smacked the ground with his hand; a huge pillar of rock from under where Isaac was rose into the air. He smacked the ground again, and the same thing happened, but under Thorn.

From the ground, Ivan and Sheba assumed their spell casting positions to lend a hand to Isaac. Sheba focused on attacking with Wind, while Ivan used Thunder spells. Combined together, the spells make a deadly combination.

A strong wind surrounded the pillar in which Thorn stood on. It limited his movements, as well as blinded him from the Thunder which would strike from above at various locations. Thorn however, kept his confident face.

"You can't stop me with a few spells!" cried Thorn as loud as he could to make his opponents hear him. A thunderbolt from the sky appeared and was aimed near where Thorn was standing. "You missed! Try again!" said Thorn taunting Ivan's aiming.

Suddenly, Isaac flew in through the huge tornado which surrounded the pillar of rock Thorn was on. Thorn almost instantly dodged his attack and slashed the back of Isaac as he passed by. A few seconds later, Isaac reemerged from atop Thorn and aimed at him from the top. Thorn was a bit surprised at how fast Isaac came from behind him to the top. Thorn blocked the attack with his sword and used his strength to push his opponent away. As Isaac's body ascended away from Thorn, multiple thunderbolts came from behind Isaac. Thorn was surprised at how close Isaac just avoided death because he pushed him away. He released a chuckle and slashed the thunderbolts away with his sword like it was nothing to him.

The heavy winds slowly scattered and the sky cleared up. Thorn waved his hand around to blow away the dust that was around him as he covered his mouth with his other hand. He looked around to look for his opponents, but they were nowhere in sight. Suddenly, 8 huge spires of rock shot up from the ground below where Thorn stood and immobilized him. With his arms unmovable, his sword was useless to him; Thorn dropped his sword.

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"Admitting defeat?" Asked Isaac as he appeared behind where Thorn was standing. "Far from it, I'm just curious as to why you let your guard down," Replied Thorn "Surely a Jupiter Adept can't escape from spires of rock. Is that what you're thinking?" Asked Thorn 

Isaac leaped away from Thorn and landed on the ground next to the pillar of rock where Thorn stood. It was surrounded by 8 huge pillars which Isaac had created using his Venus adept powers.

Thorn was right, that was exactly what he was thinking. He's definitely a Jupiter Adept, if he read his mind like that.

"I'm definitely a Jupiter Adept aren't I," Yelled Thorn, who was looking quite comfortable in his current state. "Let me tell you, don't ever underestimate your opponent." Thorn had said that twice since they met. "And most of all, never judge a book by its cover."

Thorn grabbed one of the spires near his arm and held it firmly with his hand. "Let me show you how a Jupiter Adept can escape." Said Thorn as the spire Thorn was holding onto completely shattered into a million pieces of small rock fragments.

"_His strength, it's amazing…" _Thought Isaac

Suddenly Thorn disappeared; followed by the collapse of the seven remaining spires. Isaac spun around and ran to avoid the falling boulders. While running, he felt something tugging at his leg. "Where do you think you're going?" asked a familiar voice

Isaac couldn't break free from Thorn's clutch and fell to the ground. He was moments away from being crushed to death by the falling boulders.

"Inferno!" yelled Garet and Jenna from a distance. A swarm of fireballs appeared from out of nowhere and struck the falling boulders, destroying them instantly. "Gale!" yelled Ivan as a blade of wind blew the remaining pieces of rock away.

Thorn finally released his grip on Isaac's leg and stood up. "You're so lucky Isaac…" said Thorn as he disappeared again.

"_Who on earth is he…toying with us like that?" _

"Let's get back to our deal, shall we?" said Thorn, who was now standing behind where the party hid from all along. "I'll borrow your friends, and they do some tasks for me, and I'll let them go. Sound fair?" Thorn placed his hand on the shoulders of Garet and Felix. "And if you refuse, I can't imagine what might happen." Said Thorn as his grip on their shoulders tightened, causing them to yell in pain.

Sheba tried to cast a teleport spell, but was stopped by Thorn's menacing fist pointing at her face.

"Stop…" said Isaac now standing in front of his fallen comrades. "Take me, not them…" begged Isaac as he fell to the ground

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That's it. Please read+review+rate 

It encourages me to write more and faster. Also, if you find any grammar/spelling error, don't hesitate to tell me.


	2. Chapter 2 Ambitions

**Chapter Two : Ambitions****

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**Gyad : Second Chapter! I had some reviews too! Woot, happy day!  
And here's the disclaimer **Do you have ANY idea how much I want to own Golden Sun? I'd be so rich, and Golden Sun would finally have a sequel out after TLA. Sadly, I don't...

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**Jenna.Fan > Well, who says the main character had to be a hero? Besides, if Isaac won all of his fights, there wouldn't be much of a story.  
your local dealer > Revenge shall be his, I guarantee you that. The question is, when and how? Keep reading and you'll know.

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**Chapter Two : Ambitions****  
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An icicle materialized in the hand of the blue haired man. He stared blankly into the distance of the cavern in which he stood without a single emotion on his pale face. He clutched the icicle on his hand tightly without a care that his hand had gone pale from the temperature of the icicle.

_It was all a lie wasn't it. There never was any hope for me from the beginning. Someone like me could never obtain the power of the Golden Sun. I was foolish…_

Out of frustration, he hurled the icicle in his hand at a nearby wall. The wall froze at the impact of the icicle.

"My my my..." whispered a voice from out of nowhere

The man grunted at the whisper. It was unknown to him whether it was an actual voice or just his hallucination. "Who's there?" roared the blue haired man. For the first time, he carefully examined the surroundings. The cavern was well lit, but there were no signs of a light source. The temperature in the room was below normal. A small breeze came from the rocky wall that surrounded him. Sounds of water droplets falling in the distance echoed every few seconds can be heard.

"You sure are bitter for someone who just obtained the power of the Golden Sun…Alex." Continued the voice

Forming in the palm of Alex's right hand was a blue orb.

The voice let out a fake gasp and said "Now now…no need to be so threatening. After all, I _am _your ally."

Alex closed his eyelids; the blue orb in his palm slowly evaporated. "If it's like you said, and I have the power of the Golden Sun…then I wouldn't need an ally. I sense a contradiction." Alex said slowly. He began to walk towards the nearest wall around where he stood. As he approached it, he turned around and leaned his back on the wall. It was cold, as it was the wall that Alex hurled an icicle at.

"There's your mistake. You _do_ have the power of the Golden Sun; rather ¾ of it. But you can't use it, nor will you get any benefit from it. Without the last portion, you are still just a Mercury Adept."

Alex grunted at what the voice had just said. He formed a first with his hands and slammed it onto the wall behind him.

"But…there is still hope for you. That is, if you're willing to do what I say."

Alex raised his left eyebrow at that last comment. He stopped leaning against the wall and stood up straight. He moved his arms about to relax his muscles.

"I have no physical form, so I can only give you commands through telepathy in case you're wondering."

"Cut the boring stuff and get onto the good part." Alex yelled impatiently.

_No need to yell, I can hear your thoughts perfectly._

A shimmer went down Alex's spine as the voice spoke those words. It was as if a spirit had just gone through Alex's body.

_Using the power of the Golden Sun is not an easy task, even with the full power at disposal. It requires a strong-willed mind and a couple of other traits as well. I won't go in depth on that. I'm sure you know what the Golden Sun does. It allows one to use the Power of Alchemy. And only with Alchemy, can one create the Stone of Sage. As of now, you have ¾ of the Golden Sun, which means you can not use Alchemy yet. I'm sure that the Wise One has told you that a boy named Isaac is the one who has the last portion. All you need to do is get the last portion from Isaac. But, that's not an easy task. What I want you to do is go on a soul searching quest._

"You're getting very annoying and boring," said Alex, ignoring the fact that the voice could or could not hear his thoughts.

_Let me ask you a question. _Alex felt the same sensation as he spoke. It was quite terrifying to him no matter how much he tried to ignore it. _How much of your journey to obtain the Golden Sun do you remember?_ It took a couple of seconds for Alex to process that question in his mind. It was a simple question, yet it was a so hard to give an answer. "Everything,"_ Answer me honestly. Why did you go on this quest?_

"Power," muttered Alex

_We both know that's not true. _"Whatever," Alex replied hastily. _What's your name? _Alex, _How old are you? _21,

It started to feel like a relay chat between Alex and voice. The voice would ask a question, and Alex would respond quickly with a one-worded answer. Sometimes the voice would then give a comment, and move onto the next question. The cycle repeated for a while without going anywhere. It felt like an eternity to Alex. After a couple of questions, Alex leaned his back against the wall behind him again. It was still cold.

Alex didn't want to answer the questions, but he did. He somehow felt obligated to answer. He knew he was lying most of the time, but he didn't care. He just wanted the questions to end. At often times, it felt like the game of "Twenty Questions", where one player would ask a "Yes" or "No" question and the other play would respond with "Yes" or "No".

To tease the voice and to find out if it could really hear his thoughts, Alex would sometimes not say his answer; instead think of it in his mind.

_Do you want power? _Yes. _Are you willing to do what I ask?_ Depends, _Do you…remember who I am?_ No, _You have yet to change…_

"Stop with the questions!" Alex yelled loudly, creating an echo in the cavern he was in. _I'll tell you one thing; we've spoken more than once now. Yet you don't remember me each time we speak. Every time we finish talking, I would erase the portion of your memory about our conversation. I did it to see just how strong your mind was. It seems that I can't keep doing this. I have to take it even further. I have to…erase all of your memories._

"What!" Alex shrieked as he stepped away from the wall. "You can't do that! Just who do you think you are?"

Alex drew his sword from the sheath that was hanging on his belt. He knew it was pointless, but he felt like it was a good thing to do.

_I'll tell you who I am. Remember the name well, for the next time we meet…you better remember me. I…am…Alex. _The blue haired man's eyes widened as he heard the name of the voice. _Now for the last question…who…are **YOU?**_

The blue haired man lost his consciousness as he heard the last question and fell to the floor. A blue aura formed around his body. His body levitated into the air. _If you can find yourself again, then you would have succeeded. Good luck…_

The light in the cavern slowly dimmed until it finally went away. The sounds of water droplets falling can no longer be heard. Silence filled throughout the cavern. The body of the blue haired man shimmered, and slowly disappeared.

* * *

A swarm of storm clouds gathered over the region of Atteka. It foretold a coming evil. In the city of Contigo, lived a Jupiter Adept named Hamma. Near the outskirts of the city, laid a house where she lived. 

"Something is coming," whispered Hamma as she looked out the windows of her house. "Please be safe little brother,"

Hamma stepped away from the windows and walked towards the center of the room she was in. She was deeply worried about his little brother's safety.

The room Hamma was in was a small and cozy room. All the furniture was aligned in a special way so that it feels smaller than usual. The air temperature in the room was just right, even though a fireplace was still active.

Hamma walked towards a cabinet near the fireplace. The cabinet was old and a bit worn out, but Hamma kept it anyway. She opened the biggest drawer on her cabinet and looked inside. Inside were full of junk like needles for knitting and crumbled paper. She rummaged into the drawing looking for something. Moments later, she found what she was looking for. It was a small bronze key.

Hamma placed in key firmly in her hand. With her other hand, she took off the necklace. It was a necklace with a single pearl dangling on it. She used the string of the necklace and ran it through the small hole in the bronze key. Hamma sighed. She had turned her key and necklace into a bracelet.

Hamma closed her cabinet drawer and walked towards the exit of the house. It was now raining outside. She looked up at the cloudy sky and reentered her house to grab a small umbrella. The umbrella was green, which matched her greenish eyes.

Hamma stepped into the streets of Contigo, and began to walk towards Jupiter Lighthouse. She had a stern and gloomy face.

* * *

Thorn reached into a sack that he was carrying behind his back from the beginning. It was a brownish sack that blended into his clothing. From the sack, he pulled out a thin but long metal chain. A symbol was carved onto one end of it. A strange aura sensation surrounded the chain, and every member of the party could sense it. It held an enormous amount of power. He placed the chain around his neck, like it was a scarf. His hand was still holding onto one end of the chain, just in case someone tried something.

"Sorry, can't do that. I don't need a Venus Adept," Said Thorn with a small amount of pity in his tone. "I wouldn't try that if I were you," Thorn said again, this time referring to Sheba who was trying to sneak attack him from behind. Sheba was panting really loudly, which gave her away.

The tension among the party grew by the second. Thorn made few attempts to finish his job quickly. He wanted to prolong their suffering. Isaac noticed that Thorn placed his hand on his chin, as though waiting for Isaac to figure out who he's going after. Isaac took his opportunity to the fullest and carefully planned out how he was going to do things.

_He mentioned he wanted three members in our group. Minus the Venus Adepts, only six remain; Garet, Jenna, Ivan, Sheba, Mia and Piers. I have to figure out which three he wants. That chain he's holding, it must be the key to capturing the ones he want. If I can figure out who he'll capture before he can make a move, I may be able to stop him._

_If Thorn wanted, he could've taken Garet from the beginning. Garet was the only one that rushed towards him without thinking of the consequences. But then again, he was still toying with us all. This guy, he's so confident. He could've just used that chain right now, instead…he wants me play his game. He wants me guess his plans. He's confident he'll win._

_Jenna, now there's a problem. She's the closest to her besides Sheba. If anything, Thorn would go after her instead of Garet. Felix is the only within distance that can save her. But Mia hasn't finished tending to his wounds. Why, normally it would've taken her a few seconds. But now, it seems like he's still hurt. I'm pretty sure he'll go after Jenna. I have to stop him somehow._

_Ivan, he's practically next to me. Even though his Jupiter Adept abilities can allow him to move quickly, it still won't be enough. I still can't decide whether Thorn is a Jupiter Adept or not, but if he was, he'd be able to overpower Ivan's abilities. If Thorn were to go after him, I'd be the only one that can protect him. But then again, Sheba's right there behind him. It'd be much easier to go after her. I'm sure Ivan is thinking the same thing as me._

_Strange, I don't see Piers anywhere at all. Surely he couldn't have fled. To be out of sight at a time like this, that's unlike him. He'd be the last person I suspect to run away. Could it be Thorn got to him? No, that's unlikely. _

_Mia…her ankle, it looks sprained. So if Thorn were to go after her, she'd get caught easily. Thankfully, Garet is next to her, so he can protect her. Even if he couldn't, he would buy me sometime to reach Thorn. _

_So his obvious targets are Sheba, Mia, and Jenna… Damn it, this guy is going to take all the weak ones. Now that I have it all figured out, what am I going to do. Thorn's expecting me to do something. He's expecting me to try and save everyone. He wants me to plan everything out perfectly and then crush me to defeat and humiliate me! And I still don't have a clue what he plans to do with that chain. There's nothing more I can do now, I won't know until I do something._

"Looks like you figured it out Isaac," spoke Thorn. "It sure took you a while, but you got everything right, except…I'll get all three of my targets."

Isaac took no more hesitations. It was either now or never and he chose now. His opponent was no surprise either, knowing that he waited too long already.

With one hand, Isaac formed a long spear of rock and with the other he held his sword. Thorn did something in contrast; with one hand he held his long sword loosely to allow easy movement of his muscles and with his other hand, he swung his chain directly at Isaac.

The chain somehow began to magically extend itself as it drew near Isaac. With no time to react to the bulleting chain, he hurled his rock made spear at it.

A few seconds before the impact of the chain and spear, Sheba leaped ruefully into air and attempted to drive her mace at Thorn's head. Without breaking out of his trance at the commencing impact, Thorn swung his sword blindly backwards and blocked the mace. It made a huge clanking noise.

The impact of the chain and spear made little sound, in fact barely anything happened. The rock spear fragmentized at the impact, and the chain sustained its speed at Isaac.

Ivan had somehow known that Isaac's plan was going to fail and came up with his own scheme. His knowledge of how a string would react if something were to strike it from the side. It would arch to the side from where it was struck.

Ivan shot a raging thunderbolt at the chain hoping that it would be strong enough to arch the chain. To his surprise, his plan had succeeded. The chain had arched away from its original course and was redirected at Ivan. What he didn't know was what would happen afterwards. The chain was aimed directly at Ivan's chest. There was no stopping it, Ivan was doomed.

At the split second when the chain would pierce through Ivan's chest, a miracle occurred and the chain instantly stopped. The suspense had gotten to Ivan's head. He stared downwards at the chain that was about a millimeter away from his chest. At that point, Ivan could no longer sustain the weight of his body. He fell backwards onto the ground and lost consciousness.

"Ivan!" yelled Garet to break the silence which filled the area. He left his position and ran towards the chain. Somehow the chain was still hovering in the air without any support. "You stupid chain!" cried Garet as he piled his sword onto the chain. It went through the chain completely as though nothing was there at all. It was then, that Thorn began to laugh maniacally.

"You all fell for it! You all fell for the illusion!" said Thorn bursting into laughter. The air shimmered, and the chain disappeared. Isaac stared at Thorn holding his rock spear; unbroken. Isaac knew what he had done. He created an illusion that was meant to distract all of us while he made his move on his target. Sheba was no longer present, Thorn had taken her.

Thorn finally stopped laughing and cleared his throat. "One down, two to go." Thorn announced. He drew yet another chain from his sack. The size and shape was the shape, except a different symbol was carved onto one end of the chain. "Ready for round two?" Thorn asked sinisterly.

This time, everyone charged at Thorn at the same time. They didn't care anymore. If they ran, they would lose; if they waited, they would lose.

Thorn leaped backwards into the air. As he landed on the ground, he spun around swiftly and ran off into the distance. After a few minutes of chasing after Thorn, the party stopped running. Thorn was too fast.

* * *

"Why'd you bring me here?" said Piers struggling to break free of his captor's clutch. "To save you boy," replied the male who was also struggling to keep Piers intact. "That man was strong, he would've killed you if I wasn't there to rescue you." The man continued. His voice was muffled, as he had a cloth around his mouth to conceal his voice. Over his head, the man had a hood on to further conceal his identity.

"Who are you?" asked Piers. He was still struggling to break free, but it was useless. His captor had tied his wrists together with a strong thick rope. "Someone you should be thanking." The man replied. He threw Piers' body onto the floor knowing that he couldn't break free.

While on the floor, Piers had a clear view of who his captor was. Although it was still too dark to see completely, he had a good hunch.

"Con-conservato?" Piers asked his captor. His captor quickly looked away from Piers and rubbed his forehead. "I guess I can't hide it anymore. Yes it is I, Conservato." Said the man

Piers cast a small freezing spell at the rope while Conservato was still facing the other way. With the rope frozen, he was able to break free from its seal. As he slowly untied himself, his mind was full of doubts.

_Why is Conservato here? Is he in anyway allied with that Thorn? Is Felix and his companions okay? _

"I'm here to ask for your help…my king." Conservato muttered in his breath. Piers couldn't quite hear what he had just said with his concentration still on the rope. Conservato removed his hood, revealing his long blue hair. He spun around and bowed at Piers.

"I'm here to ask for your help my king!" Conservato repeated loudly. Piers had finally untied all of the ropes that were on his body. "Ki-king?" Piers asked shockingly. "Yes, our old Sovereign has recently been…assassinated. Piers' eyes widened as he heard what Conservato had just told him. Conservato continued without giving Piers much time to react. "His highness is presumed to have died about 18 hours ago. My men and I has discovered his highness' body in a secret chamber behind his bedroom. However, an imposter is still among Lemuria, posing as his highness. To keep things a secret, and hopefully raise too much commotion, we decided to play along the imposter's game. As of now, the imposter thinks that I am still inside my bedchamber. I come to you, my lord…to request that you return to Lemuria immediately!"

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So many things happening at the same time. It does confuse things a bit, and adds a littl...er...a lot of suspense to the story doesn't it? I left you guys off with a HUGE cliffhanger, so review and I might write faster! I don't care if you've reviewed already! So something, it makes me happy. 


	3. Chapter 3 Those With Pride

**Chapter Three : Those With Pride**

Not too long after the arrival of the Golden Sun, the party almost faced the brink of destruction by a mysterious fighter named Thorn. His skills were superb in comparison to that of his opponents. Thorn's true objectives were unknown, but in order to achieve it, Thorn has taken captive of Sheba. Using mysterious weapons he refers to as the "Chains of Fate", Thorn was able to easily capture her. However, unbeknownst to the party, the weapons that Thorn wields contain a strong setback for the user.

Thorn had retreated from the battlefield with the intention of escaping; the party however saw it as an invitation to give pursuit. Knowing that in their current condition and them short one member, they could not defeat Thorn. They had no choice but to retreat as well; into the city of Vault.

Thorn treaded through the thick forest like prey escaping from its predator. The fear of defeat went through his veins as he increased his pace steadily. He was growing weaker by the moment. The wetness of the ground in which he stepped on made it hard to walk fast, and the sharp twigs faltered him even more.

"I can't keep this up," Thorn thought to himself. He suddenly stopped dead in his tracks and took a rest on the trunk of tree.

Thorn reached into his sack for the weapon he had used to capture Sheba. The chain he had taken out was emitting a neon purple color.

"Promise you won't escape if I let you free?" Thorn let out a joking comment as he sighed.

His hands gripped tightly on the rough chain. The neon grow began to fade away as Thorn lost his consciousness and fell to the damp soil. Moments later, the neon glow completely evaporated and the naked body of a young girl fell to the ground next to Thorn.

A small glimmer of light penetrated through the thick forest and struck Thorn's eyes. With his numb arm, he used all the strength in his body to try and cover his eyes.

"Heh, Lady Luck seems to be with me these days," muttered Thorn. His throat was now parched and every word struck him with pain.

"You're awake," growled a voice of an angry girl. A sharp Thorn-like object was a step from stabbing Thorn's neck. Thorn didn't bother to respond to her, knowing that he wouldn't die here right now. He laid there, waiting for the opposing side to let go of the weapon pointed at him.

"Why did you release me?" asked the still angry voice. Still keeping his cool, Thorn didn't respond but instead let a small grin out. Thorn moved his hands away to see the dirty face of a girl. It was Sheba, whom held the fate of Thorn at her hands.

Thorn managed to let out a few words, but they were weak and broken. Sheba slowly lifted her mace, knowing that it was pointless to pry some answers out of him if he had not the strength to neither speak nor move.

"The sun's going down…" Sheba thought to herself as she watched the glimmer of light fade away. The darkness began to saturate the forest. In addition to the darkness, the temperature was slowly dropping. The forest soon turned into an environment unfit for weak patients.

Sheba slowly picked herself off the damp soil with the help of a nearby tree trunk. The debate over whether to rescue Thorn battled in the head of Sheba. One side debated that it was Thorn whom held her captive and left her to die in this dangerous forest. The other argued that it was better to help him, in hopes of prying some answers out of him. Moments later, she came to a conclusion.

Sheba bent herself down to reach for one of Thorn's arms. With great force and anger, she tugged Thorn's heavy body through the forest. Without a clue of which way to go, the two took the most obvious; one where they walked until an exit was found.

Felix opened his eyes to the unfamiliar environment. He was inside a small cozy house. He climbed out of the hard wooden bed he slept on for which seemed like hours to him. Looking around the room for his equipment, he finds that they were nowhere to be found. Felix stood in the middle of the room for roughly five minutes until it hit him.

"Why am I still standing here? I'm supposed to be out looking for Sheba!" he thought to himself. He smacked himself in the face hard, hoping that it would wake him up from this terrible dream.

"I was so weak! I couldn't do anything to save her…" Felix smacked himself again, almost wanting to bang his head against the wall. A small drop of tear almost escaped from Felix's eye, but he got to it before it could fall out. Suddenly, a young scrawny boy barged into the room.

"Hey!" the boy cried out pointing his rough fingers at Felix who was dumbfounded.

"If you're awake, don't just stand there! Get out there and help out!" the boy commanded Felix who still stood there. A smile escaped out of Felix's dark mood as he bursts into a small laughter.

"That's right; I can't stand here and moan for the rest of my life. She wouldn't like that. All I can do now is do whatever I can to try and save her. Don't you worry Sheba. I'll definitely come, no matter what it takes." Felix clenched his fists in confidence.

"Hey! Stop dazing out!" yelled the boy as he lightly kicked Felix's legs to get his attention. "They're all waiting for you out there, so hurry." said the boy as he dashed out of the room.

After Felix finally left that house he was in, he quickly joined up with the rest of the party. They had to devise a plan to stop Thorn.

"Alright, so how's everybody feeling?" asked Isaac. The party had received medical assistance from the people of Vault. Regardless of their condition, they still had to go rescue Sheba from Thorn. But the fact that they weren't strong enough to beat him only dragged their confidence down.

"Look. I know we may or may not be strong enough, but we still have to try. For Sheba's sake." Isaac added to lift everyone's confidence.

"Do we have any idea where they went?" Ivan asked. Ivan had bumped into another obstacle among them. They had no idea where Thorn was headed, nor do they know what he's planning. While they were taking their sweet time resting, Thorn was probably hundreds of miles away.

Felix was not brimming with anger, but he tried his hardest not to show it to his friends. "And then there's also Piers. He's missing as well," said Mia.

After the battle with Thorn, the party had found out that Piers was nowhere to be found. They knew that he wasn't the kind of man to desert a battle to save himself. They placed their faith in him hoping that he's still alive.

"In any case, we should return to our Airship. If Thorn is heading to other continents, we'll have a better chance catching up to him on air while he's using a normal ship."

Suddenly, a boy's yelling could be heard in the distance. "Hey, I think we found another one of your friends! It's the blue haired one!"

Everyone was shocked by what they had heard. It was a blue haired man that they had found. It could only be him; the party's missing ally; Piers.

"You know, I really don't understand why you helped me. Did your pride get to your head? Or was it pity for me? Either way, you lose, again." Thorn boasted on his victory over Sheba again and again, each time in a different way. His arrogance was driving Sheba crazy with anger. She couldn't bear to look at his face anymore.

"In any case, you did save me. And I promised myself I wouldn't harm you, so we're even." Thorn added. He looked down on Sheba with a kind face, hiding his inner thoughts within him. Sheba was tied down by Thorn using some spare vines found on the ground.

With a sinister thought on his face, he rubbed his chin evilly while still looking down on Sheba. Finally, he came to a conclusion and snapped his fingers. "You're probably wondering what kind of evil plan I'm thinking of aren't you?" he asked Sheba while refraining from bursting into laughter.

Sheba was growing tired of his annoyance. She glared into his disgusting dirt covered face. With the last ounce of her saliva, she shot a mouthful of saliva at Thorn's face. The spit landed near Thorn's right eye, which is now twitching from the shock.

The smirk on Thorn's face disappeared and was replaced with a menacing face. He raised his hand to wipe the spit off his face. The dirt on his hands further added to the filth on his face.

Suddenly, the menacing look disappeared again and out came the smirk. Sheba groaned as she saw that disgusting look again and rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Anyways…I'll ask you this question again. Promise you won't escape if I let you free?"

Sheba flinched at that comment. She had heard it before, from Thorn's mouth. Many thoughts jumbled in her head. She couldn't recall when he had said it to her, but she was confident that he had said that once already.

Thorn drew his sword from the sheath that was behind him. It was stained with mud from top to bottom. "Sorry to boast again, but I had to. You really should've taken my weapons at least." With that comment, he slashed into the vines that confined Sheba's body. She wanted to ask why he had done so, but it was too late. Thorn had turned around and began to head off.

"Let's go, we're late. And if you try to run away…don't expect the same hospitality." The last comment he added was different from his usual talking. It was much deeper, and was serious. Sheba didn't dare to defy his orders at that moment and willfully followed Thorn.

Thorn stopped and turned around to face Sheba again. For the first time, the two noticed the difference in height. Thorn was at least a few feet if not twice as tall as her. He reached into one of his pockets and took out a small bag. He waved it in front of his face as he gave a playful look at Sheba. The insides of the bag jingled. Sheba knew it was either Gold Coins, or just scrap metal; she chose to believe it was the former. Thorn made sure Sheba knew what was inside the bag before chucking it to her.

"First thing when we get out of here, you're buying yourself some clothes." Thorn had referred to the fact that Sheba had taken Thorn's jacket to cover her naked body. Sheba's face blushed as she tried to cover her face with her hands.

Thorn laughed as he continued to head off into the distance.

Isaac stared petrified at the body that was laid out before him and his friends. The one person they had least expected to be in front of them laid in the ground before them. He didn't know whether to execute him right now, or spare his life.

They had found this body deep inside the remains of Vale. The body laid there in the vacant road, still bleeding from the mysterious wounds on him. They were neither dealt by sword nor weapons. After being rescued by the people, the body was still gradually bleeding. Only a couple rings of bandages kept him from bleeding to death.

Mia clutched her mouth to keep herself from yelling in terror. The body that was laid before her eyes was Alex. He was the person that almost brought the destruction of Weyard.

"Mia…you should…tend to his injuries." Isaac whispered into the ears of Mia. Her eyes were now tearing up. The sight of seeing her apprentice near the brink of death was too much of her. She had never healed a person in a condition like this before. It was perhaps too much for her to handle. But she gave it her best shot and waved her shaking hands over Alex's body. Suddenly a hand held onto Mia's hands. Garet had stopped her from performing her duties of a healer.

"What do you think you're doing Garet?" yelled Isaac. He grabbed Garet's hand and tried to shove it off of Mia's. Garet however struggled to hold on. "I think that question should be mine to ask." He replied boldly. Garet released his grip on Mia.

Garet pointed at Alex's pale face. "You're thinking about healing the person that used our family against us. He is the person that used your dad and Jenna's family to fight us. He is the person that sacrificed his comrades to achieve his own selfish goals." He forcefully shaked Isaac's hand off his own and ran off into the distance angrily.

Mia's was now filled with doubt. Her duty as a healer was to heal everyone that was injured regardless of the sins they committed. The code of the healer was to treat everyone with equal values. However, in this situation, she didn't know what to do.

Her morals told her to heal Alex. After all, Alex was her apprentice before he chose the path of greed. Regardless, Alex was a childhood friend of Mia, and she couldn't abandon him. However, everything that Garet had said was correct. It went against everything she believed in, but she chose to accept it.

Mia was now crying as she debated over the decision that was placed on her shoulders. It was as if the fate of the world rested on her decision. Then, everything evaporated. She felt a hand on her shoulders. It was a warm and kind hand. She turned around and saw that it belonged to Jenna. Mia knew how Jenna felt now; she had given her the support she needed to continue. Mia wiped her tears off her face and resumed her healing ritual.


End file.
